The Awesome Reality of Life Structuring
Imagine someone was interviewing you for a news report. She would ask you a lot of questions in order to get the information she needed to make an interesting story. Of course, you might be asking yourself a really big question. Why does she want to do a story on me? At the end of this blog, I want to address that. For now, think of the reporter’s questions as a way to think about what we call “Life Structuring.” At Authentic Life Concepts, Life Structuring is one of our most powerful foundational concepts. It goes like this.
Person (insert your name here), where are you? How did you happen to end up there? Why are you there? What are you doing? Besides yourself, who else had a say in your being there, doing that? Is anyone else with you, and is that person helping or hindering your work, or is he/she just neutral? Is this the most important thing you could be doing right now? How much are you enjoying it; are you being energized or drained? In the end, what difference will that make?
In a nutshell, the scene above demonstrates Life Structuring. From your conception until you are in your final resting place your life gets structured. At first others are solely responsible for your life’s structure; you aren’t capable yet. Later, you are to become the one primarily responsible for the structuring, but others won’t willingly let go. They’ll tell you it’s up to you, yet they continue to critique what you do and how you do it.
Many people – perhaps most – live out their lives having their lives structured by others. Let’s see, there are parents, grandparents, babysitters, teachers, scout leaders, choir or band directors, coaches, government, bosses, co-workers, clients, spouse, children, grandchildren, the military, etc. Then there are things that structure our lives: calendars, phones, televisions, advertisers, traffic, doctors’ appointments, weather, and so on. YET, at the end of the day, who gets held accountable for what we decided, did, or didn’t do? You do! How is it that you’re responsible, when so many other people and things told you what to do?
The fact is that at some point you are to take the primary responsibility for structuring or organizing or directing your own life. But how? Sure, you learn some organizational principles and make a good effort. Many of us do quite well. But, most of us probably wish we could do even better.
Then comes the questioning, the burn-out, the doubt. Is this all there is? I’m tired of the rat race. I’m not getting around to the things that really matter to me. Even, I love my life and what I’m doing, but I still wish I could (fill in your unrealized dream or need).
The circumstances described here are common. But they aren’t the way we were intended to live. We are each unique in all of time and place. You are unique. You are valuable, capable, and have a purpose in life. No amount of Life Structuring from the world will ever get you to your full and impactful uniqueness. At some point – hopefully sooner than later – we are to emerge into our authentic uniqueness, claim the area of impact we feel called to, and take the initiative to structure our own lives with purpose and integrity.
For our purposes today, know that you have the right and the responsibility to be the person you were born to be – a person the world cannot lead you to be. You have the right and the responsibility to act and to impact, in a positive way, a person, group, or cause you deeply care about. AND you have way more ability to do so than you probably ever imagined. In fact, only you can make the difference that you can make. You’re that unique. Begin today by writing down the person, group, or cause that you wish you could impact and the difference you would make if you could. There will be things, of course, that we cannot change. But there are significant differences you can make, but not until you at least give the vision a chance to come into focus. From this beginning, I expect to hear wonderful stories of your accomplishments! Don’t make me wait too long. The world needs you.
For more information and for some coaching on the process of life structuring and impact, contact us at Authentic Life Concepts.
Oh, yes! Why is that reporter wanting to do a story on you? Because of your leadership and accomplishments in your chosen area of service.